My 50 Favorite R&B Songs Ever

Love Shoulda Brought You Home- Toni Braxton (1993) (Yes, this takes my #1 spot. Toni was EVERYTHING back in these days: the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, classy, sexy, and the most beautiful, STRONG, & powerful voice. This album is still one of my favorites ever. I wish Toni would stop acting like a 20-year old now, hook up with Babyface again and sing some songs like this. :-p)

You Mean the World to Me- Toni Braxton (1993)

What About Your Friends- TLC (1992) (R.I.P. Left Eye. Good memories. *sniffle*)

How Many Ways- Toni Braxton (1993)

Ex-Factor- Lauryn Hill (1998)

Freak Like Me- Adina Howard (My dirty little secret... I can't get ENOUGH of this song, even after 10 years!) (1995)

End of the Road- Boyz II Men (1993) (Too bad there aren't any guys out there these days singing like this.)

Not Gon' Cry- Mary J. Blige (1995) (This is one of the few songs that my mom actually loved too. We'd all be sitting around like "E-LEV-EN years of SA-CRI-FICE!!!" Jam.)

Don't Let Go (Love)- En Vogue (1996)

Only You- 112 (1996)

One Sweet Day- Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men (1995) (I consider a lot of Mariah's songs to be 'pop'. I have them separated in my music library, so some may not make it to this list.)

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye- Boyz II Men (1993)

Another Sad Love Song- Toni Braxton (1993)

Love U 4 Life- Jodeci (1995) (Jodeci put out the hits back in the day, but they were a little too nasty for me. :-p)

Why Do I Feel So Sad- Alicia Keys (2001)

I Have Nothing- Whitney Houston (1992) (Definitely my favorite Whitney song ever. Her voice just SOARS in this song. She makes it sound so effortless. "Don't.. make.... me... CLOOOOOOOSE one more door!" Nobody can sing a song like this with the exception of Whitney, Mariah, Celine, Christina, and Toni-- the best voices of the day.)

Real Love- Mary J. Blige (1992)

Twisted- Keith Sweat (1996) (No, he can't sing, but I loved this song SO much when it came out. If you asked me back in 1996, this would have been my second favorite song of all time, in any genre. :-p So it gets a decent place here.)

Killing Me Softly- the Fugees (1996)

5 Steps- Dru Hill (1996) (They picked up where Boyz II Men and Jodeci left off. They could REALLY REALLY sing the heck out of a song. No one has taken the reins from here, unfortunately.)

Touch Me, Tease Me- Case & Foxy Brown (1996)

We're Not Making Love No More- Dru Hill (1997)

I Wanna Be Down- Brandy (1994)

Next Lifetime- Erykah Badu (1997)

Waterfalls- TLC (1994)

Weak- SWV (1992)

At Your Best (You Are Love)- Aaliyah (1994) (I'm in the minority, but I think Aaliyah was at her best vocally back when she was with R. Kelly. I didn't like any of her other albums as much as I liked this very first one. Had she stayed on this path, there wouldn't be all the Ciara comparisons nowadays. :-p )

The Boy is Mine- Brandy & Monica (1998)

If- Janet Jackson (1993)

I'm Going Down- Mary J. Blige (1994)

The Roof- Mariah Carey (1997) (I think I'm the only person who considers this a favorite from Mariah. :-p I don't know why, but this song has an effect on me. I want to blast this on a beach every time I hear it. :-p)

Most Girls- Pink (2000)

I Love Your Smile- Shanice (1991)

I Still Believe- Mariah Carey (1998)

Baby Baby Baby- TLC (1992)

April Showers- Dru Hill (1996)

You Used to Love Me- Faith Evans (1995)

Nobody's Supposed to be Here- Deborah Cox (1998) (The dance remix was the worst thing that happened to this song...)

Before You Walk Out of My Life- Monica (1995)

Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg- TLC (1992)

I Will Always Love You- Whitney Houston (1992) (The classic... another where her voice literally soars. No one's voice can soar like this besides Mariah's, period. It just goes all onto another level, out of this world, and brings tears to your eye. :-p)

All Cried Out- Allure & 112 (1997) (This is actually a Mariah song... You can definitely tell this is something she wrote and probably meant to sing herself. Plus I don't think she writes songs for other people too often... :-\)

Can We Talk- Tevin Campbell (1993) (Oh you know you had a crush on Tevin too... He was all poised to be the next Michael Jackson... He had a beautiful little voice.)

Remember the Time- Michael Jackson (1991) (Yeah, I put most of Mike's songs in the 'pop' category' too. )

What's Love Got to Do With It- Tina Turner (1993)

Downtown- SWV (1992)

Creep- TLC (1994)

Fallin'- Alicia Keys (2001)

I'll Make Love to You- Boyz II Men (1994)

Try Again- Aaliyah (2000)

Author Comments:

I AM A CHILD OF THE 90s first of all!!! :-p

This is REALLY hard because there are so many songs that I've been obsessed with at some point or other; sometimes for long times and sometimes for only a few months. So I have to set some parameters. To be one of my favorites ever, I had to love it when, or close to the time it was first released. This will put songs from the 90s and 2000s at a huge advantage, despite there being better stuff earlier (or later). Second, the song must have longevity for me. Meaning this is a song that I loved in 1995 and STILL love it today, and it still gets some play. There are some more recent songs that I love a LOT right now; but who knows if they will have longevity for me? So some recent songs will not make the list (No "We Belong Together", not yet anyway). So here they are! I *think* they are in order from most favorite to lesser favorite, I tried my best. Also please read my general disclaimer on my other music lists before leaving any nose-in-the-air comments. :-D

1st of all, Aaliyah was a great entertainer.2nd,Aaliyah and Ciara are both great singers, so their is nothing wrong with the comparisons being made between them.3rd,why is it that the author of this site put R.I.P next to TLC's song when they mentioned left-eye,but did not write R.I.P next to Aaliyah's name, but instead just begins to bash her music.Aaliyah deserves to rest in peace too.Also,since Aaliyah has passed on I think that a little more respect should be shown for her, instead of just criticizing her music.How would you feel if you were Aaliyah's mom, or one of her family members and you came on this website,seeing you're loved-one's music, being negatively criticized, you would probably be crushed.Back in 2000,Aaliyah was the youngest person to recieve an American Music Award,but you probably don't know that, but you would if you actually took time out to look at her achievements, instead of just downplaying her career.Lastly,Aaliyah's music was not better when she was with R.Kelly,because they were never together in the 1st place,that was just a rumor,because she said it herself in a 1994 interview with MTV.

Thank you for taking the time to register just to bash my opinion. I liked her music better in 1994; and? I didn't say she was horrible-- she's on the list twice for pete's sake. I don't know where 'disrespect' comes into play at all.

I semi agree with you about Aaliyah...however in my own opinion I have to say One In A Million was just as good as Age Ain't Nothin...
BUT, yeah her most recent (before her unforunate passing) was no where NEAR as good as her first two and definitely didn't showcase her talent as much as it should have. And I'm just glad to see someone else has my outlook on R&B today because I am very disappointed in how it's evolving since we've lost 2 of the most influential icons Aaliyah and Left-Eye. I have to give it up to Ne-Yo and Bobby Valentino for coming close but everything else just sounds all the same...CRAPPY and no one can sing anymore! We need some more with those great voices like Mariah, Christina, and Whitney.

I totally agree with you on The Roof by Mariah Carey!!! I absolutely LOVEEEEEE that song and it has special meaning to me. Thanks for creating your list, it helped my terrible memory. I'm making an old school cd.... my ten year reunion is this month, and I'm reminiscing on the good ol' days. I'm going ATTENDING my reunion however ;o)